By Jeffrey A. Rendall
No matter how putrid Dems are in this year’s elections, Republicans still need better ideas
If you’ve watched the news lately, you’ve no doubt noticed, at least in conservative media circles, a healthy quantity of attention devoted to just how illogical and nonsensical Democrats have gotten in their intra-party nomination battles.
They did what? They picked who? From Los Angeles to Maine, Democrats appear to have gone all-in on a collection of potential future leaders who wouldn’t be caught dead in a gathering of tradition-minded, patriotic limited-government lovers.
So much for the previous widely held belief that the Democrats were the “Evil” party and not the “Stupid” one. These days, Democrats are evil and stupid.
But Democrats aren’t concerned. They love the “free” journo blanket coverage. And their horrific, stomach-churning absurd-ness won’t save Republicans this year, either.
In a matter-of-factly worded opinion piece titled, “The Truth Is Simple: Democrats Don’t Care About Anything but Gaining Power”, Derek Hunter wrote at Townhall last week:
“It’s odd that Democrats got so upset when [James] Talarico was called a ‘trans’ candidate, so perhaps he should be referred to as a ‘cis’ candidate? Make a point of hammering that home because why not?
“Democrats used to insist character didn’t matter under Bill Clinton, then it was the only thing that mattered when they started attacking Donald Trump (just not the character of anyone named Clinton). Now they’re back to it, not mattering at all. It’s not the best look when the guy advocating for fascism with a Nazi tattoo is the one your party identifies with, nor is it good when your chosen candidate can’t stop expressing their love of ‘trans kids’ while you pretend Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat.
“The only conclusion that can be drawn about the way Democrat voters operate is that they will hitch their wagon to anyone, no matter how vile, creepy, scuzzy, or disgusting, if they think they can win. And any party that will try to win with people like that is, well, a party you have to do anything necessary to make sure they don’t get within a Rory McIlroy tee shot of power.”
Well said. This is the essence of the issue for conservatives, namely the fact that Democrats have become so uninhibited in their championing of scumbags, would-be terrorists, Anti-Semites, America haters, child mutilation apologists and, in the case of illegal alien criminals, blatant law breakers, that they couldn’t possibly be trusted with power or authority.
This is the reason I’ve devoted so much time to advocating that Republicans (including Donald Trump) need to get their own acts together before obsessively worrying about how rancid the Democrats’ values, morals and sensibilities have become.
It’s simple, really. Republicans must engage in serious self-tough love to bring themselves back from the dark side. It’s been easy, under Donald Trump, to follow his example and desire to dive headfirst into the political mosh pit and go hand-to-hand with Democrats to the dirtiest extent possible. Trump never backs down from a rhetorical fight, which was an admirable quality that GOPers lacked for a long, long time.
Republicans used to just not “go there” when it came to engaging in heated rhetorical battles with Democrats, arguing that to do so wasn’t “presidential” or “dignified”, instead preferring to stick to the sidelines while the rest of political humanity engaged in a bench-clearing brawl.
Being “Mr. Nice Guy” didn’t get Republicans anywhere. If you don’t believe it, just ask Mitt Romney about his plans to build a presidential library.
At the same time, obsessing on Democrats and their sins doesn’t work either. The recent hubbub over Graham Platner (Maine) and James Talarico (Texas) didn’t do much to lessen their standing with Democrat voters. Nor did the conservative pundit class’s getting their panties in a wad over Zohran Mamdani and his Muslim terrorist connections and love for socialism make much of a difference in New York City last November.
Frankly stated, the fact Mamdani was elected Mayor didn’t instantly provide a campaign issue for every Republican running against a Democrat for elected office thus far. Link Mamdani to your Democrat opponent and most voters just shrug and say, “so what?”
Why? Because almost all Democrats are socialists these days. I’ve said it before, but peruse Facebook and, if you have liberal “friends”, expect to find a plethora of leftist propaganda touting the virtue of confiscating rich people’s wealth and expressing sympathy and support for damaged individuals who don’t know what gender they really are.
It’s “common sense” conservatives say. But it ain’t “common” sense to these people. Their version of common sense means anything they want it to be. They’ve got no scruples, and they’ve got no shame. Anything goes, just as long as it means the kooks join with them to form a viable voter coalition.
Derek Hunter is 100% correct in claiming that Democrats just want power. That’s it. Game, Set, Match. Compare statements liberals have made over the decades, about free market capitalism, the sanctity of marriage, enforcing our borders – or supporting our military in all circumstances – and you’ll discover Democrats change colors faster than a chameleon if it equates to gaining more political power in today’s reality.
That’s how the “Me Too!” crowd can suddenly put aside their former reservations about scumbags and womanizers in order to back Graham Platner to beat Susan Collins in Maine. As far as I know, Collins is universally respected as a human being. What about Platner?
Senile old coot Bernie Sanders understands that having Platner beat Collins could/would tip the balance on what he’s trying to accomplish in the senate, so therefore, it’s not surprising how so many Democrats are suddenly able to stomach the human vermin’s personal misgivings.
The same analysis definitely applies to James Talarico in Texas, a guy who’s so creepy that you’ll need to immerse yourself in bug spray just to ward off the weevils the Texas Democrat’s cultural malleability attracts.
But it’s a mistake for conservatives and Republicans to rest easy and assume Democrats’ shortcomings will “save” them come election time. The truth is, Graham Platner won’t drag down the whole party, and neither will James Talarico – or any current Democrat. Guilt by association only goes so far in our times.
Likewise, shouting (proverbially) “Mamdani is a Jew-hating Muslim who wants to turn the entire world into a communist Gulag” won’t get the job done, either.
Republicans must prevail in the war of ideas with better policies, which will win votes in bigger blocs than any all-negative-all-the-time anti-such-and-such public relations campaign will ever do.
Defining one’s opponent is wholly necessary, but in 2026, Republicans can’t count on just scraping by in close elections because they’ve managed to convince a small percentage of voters that Democrats are morally unfit. Republicans tried this with Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden (Hunter Biden, the “laptop”), and it didn’t work. Voters weren’t about to give the benefit of the doubt to Republicans just because the other team was ethically reprehensible.
Conservative economist Steve Moore, whom I respect, argued that the most recent inflation numbers (the inflation rate was above 4% per annum in May) weren’t necessarily as bad as they seem because the CPI was much worse under Joe Biden. That’s all well and good, but voters recall how President Trump promised to keep inflation low, a vow that hasn’t been fulfilled.
The “It was much worse under Democrats!” line of persuasion just won’t cut it anymore. Rational people understand the Iran War’s impact and the benefits associated with keeping Iran’s nuclear ambitions in check, but it won’t matter a lick to the segment of voters who base their preference on pocketbook issues.
Democrats have regularly accused Republicans of setting aside their standards to elevate various politicians, most notably Donald Trump. Just because conservatives opted to back Trump after he was the clear preference to the GOP’s primary voters doesn’t make them hypocrites, it makes them realists. Trump wasn’t – and still isn’t – perfect, but he was leaps and bounds preferable in terms of meaningful policy to any Democrat.
“Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” Democrats are misguided. But Republicans shouldn’t assume that because most Democrat office-seekers aren’t “pure” that Americans will punish the liberal party for choosing their own to represent them.
It doesn’t work that way. Democrats can’t be trusted with power, period. Knowing in advance that Democrats’ only goal is victory will help Republicans concentrate their emphasis on what they need to do to win elections – and secure power for themselves.
Homing in on the Democrats’ flawed freak candidates is only one piece of the puzzle.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .